THE PRAIRIE HEN.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1574, 6 March 1879, Page 4

THE PRAIRIE HEN.

Now that the subject of tho prairie hen has become a matter for comment, the following \ information will no doubt be appreciated by : those readers who take an interest in acclimatisation matters. The article ia headed " The j Prairie Hen." We o ten see good things on | our tables which we should never have had but for steam. Were there no railways in other countries to bring the produce of the interior down to the seaport, and no steamers to carry swiftly acres? the ocean to England, many a nice dish, both for dinner and dessert, which is now common, would have been almost unknown to us. The prairie hen is an example of this. It is now one of tho common objects of the poulterers' shops, while not so very long ago lew people in England had ever seen one. in the fresh state. Even as they hang in the ■hops they are fine, handsome birds, with their bright brown plumage barred with black, but in their wild state, as they feed in large coveys on the vast prairies of the West, they must be a noble, sight to see. Tho oldest thing about the appearance of these bir.ls is that long tuft of durk feathers y< w see stickout out from either side of the neck. It seems that when any " gentleman" of the party wishes to look particularly " killing" in the eyes of his lady friends, he erects these tufts, so that they stick out straight from his neck, and at the same time he contrives to blow air into the patches of loose skin which they cover when hanging down, so that these look like round balls as large as an orange. Prairie hens, or prairie chickens an they are generally called in America, were not long in winning their way to popular favor when once they began to be sold in England, and deservedly so, for when in condition it is one of the very nicest birds that can be eaten An attempt was once made to tame them, and make thom so change their habits as to thrive and breed in captivity. This you know has been done in the case of turkeys, pheasants, guinea fowl, duoks, and other sorts of poultry, and there is no doubt had the trial been attended with success prairie chickens would have proved a very valuable addition to our poultry yards. But it seems they proved so destructive to gardens by rooting up or tearing down everything they possibly could, that the experiment was given up in despair. It was plain they could not forget their wdd free life on the. prairie. Instead of being willing to roost under shelter like ordinary and respectable fowl they preferred to sit down on any little hillock they could find, and, turning their breasts to tho wind like a weathercock, slept till the dawn awoke them to another day of misthief and depredation. So, upon the whole, it m-iy be well to content ourselves with receiving them as quickly as train and steamer can bring them from their native haunts without trying to cultivato any nearer acquaintance with them.